Chlark Fanfic: The Fallen Sky, Chapter 4
Some more Chlarkfic in the House, bitches!!! (...and I say that with all the love in the world). :-)
To quote Lemur!Clark, "Chegitout, chegitout...!" :-P
Enjoy. Awesome banner by ellashy . You rock, hun. :-D
Title: The Fallen Sky
Author: BabyDee
Pairing: Chlark, Oneshot
Rating: R-ish
Warnings: Major angst up ahead. Brace yourselves.
Timeline: Season 8 (Hex - Doomsday) Season 9 (My version)
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Months after walking away from her in Doomsday, Clark returns to Chloe…but finds that she’s a changed woman from the one he left behind.
Feedback: …always welcome. J
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 4
Freezes It Solid
Jimmy.
Jimmy Olsen. Chloe’s husband.
Clark squeezed his eyes shut as cold, harsh reality descended upon him.
He’d slept with Chloe. No, that wasn’t entirely true, as sleep hadn’t even come into the picture at all. He’d made love to her, done all sorts of intimate things with her.
And in all the spontaneity of the morning, he’d completely forgotten that Chloe was still married.
“What?” she whispered, her eyes wide with shock. Clark narrowed his gaze as her voice jerked him back to the present.
“Your husband is coming up the stairs, Chloe,” he said roughly.
Chloe flinched, but her eyes hardened and she spoke evenly. “Jimmy and I are separated, our marriage was never consummated, and annulment papers have been filed,” she said flatly. “He’s hardly my husband, Clark.”
“Well, until those papers are signed by both of you, your marriage remains valid, and that makes you still his wife,” he said, running his hands through his hair in anguish. “God, how could I have been so stupid?”
Chloe paled. “What did you say?” she whispered incredulously.
“I said I was stupid, Chloe. I just slept with another man’s wife,” he said glumly. “I’m an adulterer.”
“Technically, I’m the married one out of the both of us, so I’m the adulterer here,” she said stiffly. “You’re just a fornicator, Clark. It’s only half as bad.”
He scowled. “This isn’t funny, Chloe.”
“You think I think this is funny?” she yelled, flinging off the sheets and striding towards him. “Do you see me laughing here? If there’s a smile on my face, please do point it out to me, because I am definitely not finding any of this the least bit amusing!”
They stared at each other, naked and angry, and despite his earlier misgivings, Clark felt himself responding to her, Jimmy completely forgotten. As if by mutual consent she gravitated towards him, but before they made contact, then they heard the scrape of a key in the lock.
“Don’t let him in here,” she pleaded, backing away as the key slowly turned.
Quickly Clark zipped to the door and pressed his back against it just as Jimmy turned the handle and pushed. Naturally, the door didn’t budge, no matter how hard Jimmy pushed or how fiercely he rattled the handle.
“Chloe!” he shouted. “Open this door, I know you’re in there!”
“I don’t want to see you, Jimmy!” she replied as she hastily dragged a sheet around herself.
“Who are you talking to?” he yelled, banging on the door. “I heard you talking to someone Chloe! Who’s in there with you?”
“Go AWAY!” she cried. “I’m not letting you in here if all you’re gonna do is yell at me!”
He laughed harshly. “Oh, let me guess: you’ve got Davis in there, and you’re wondering where to stash him while you stall me, is that it?” he growled. “God, you are such a slut.”
Clark’s jaw hardened and he clenched his fist in rage, wishing he could punch through the door and smash the little man’s teeth in. He looked over at Chloe, her face reddening at Jimmy’s stinging remarks.
“Just leave me alone, Jimmy!” she said wearily. “I’m not the one who walked away from this marriage!”
“No, but for all the effort you put into it, you may as well have,” he retorted. “Spending all your time with your precious Clark while I was recuperating from an attack I saved you from!”
“I didn’t ask for that monster to ruin our lives!” she cried. “Stop blaming me for something that wasn’t my fault!”
“Oh, I’m not blaming you, Chloe - I blame myself,” he said bitterly. “I curse the day I met you.”
And with those words he turned and stomped down the stairs and out of the building. As soon as they heard his car start up and zoom off down the road, they both sagged in relief.
“He’s gone,” Clark said, stepping away from the door and holding Chloe’s arms. “It’s okay, Chloe, I won’t let him hurt you.”
She nodded slightly, her gaze meeting his before running over him intensely. He glanced down at himself and suddenly realised that he was still stark naked and she was clad in nothing but a loose sheet.
Quickly he let go of her arms and headed to the other side of the room, where his clothes lay scattered on the ground. Angrily he began to yank them on, trying to ignore the soft sound of Chloe’s approaching footsteps.
“Clark?” she began hesitantly.
“This was a mistake,” he said forcefully, yanking on his shoelaces so hard they almost snapped between his fingers. “I never should have touched you.”
The footsteps behind him stopped. He waited for an answer, but she remained silent behind him, making him feel all the more awful. He hated being the one to hurt her, but if he didn’t put a stop to it now, there was every chance that they’d make the same mistake again. And after the way he’d gone after Lana when she was married, the last thing he wanted to do was start something with an unavailable woman - even if she happened to be his best friend in the whole world.
“We just…we had a weird moment, and the situation got out of hand,” he continued, turning to face her with quiet determination. “I apologise for taking advantage of you, Chloe. It’ll never happen again.”
“Hey, don’t torture yourself, Clark,” she said scathingly. “You hardly took advantage of me, I was a willing participant. But you’re right - what’s done is done and best not repeated, so let’s just turn the page on this and forget it ever happened, okay?”
Clark closed his eyes slowly. “I think it’s for the best,” he said quietly. “The circumstances are less than ideal, and-”
“Hey, I’m over it already,” she said bluntly. “Are we done here?”
“Chloe, I…” he sighed. “Are you sure you’re okay with…with everything…?”
She rolled her eyes contemptuously. “We had sex, Clark, it’s hardly the end of the world.”
Oh, that stung. He barely managed to refrain from flinching at her terse summation of the morning’s activities.
“What if Jimmy comes back?” he asked.
“Not your problem,” she replied stiffly. “And I’d like to take a shower now, so if you don’t mind excusing me, I’d like a little privacy.”
She shrugged the sheet off, and it floated to the ground in a soft pile, leaving her naked before him. Clark gulped and forced his gaze upward even as his body betrayed him, tightening painfully at the sight of her. She stared right back at him, the picture of bravado even though he could see the pain behind her eyes.
He took a deep breath and picked up his jacket. “I’ll, er…I’ll leave you to it, then.”
She simply shrugged and headed for the bathroom. “Lock the door on your way out, would you?” she called over her shoulder before disappearing behind the bathroom door and turning the latch.
Clark swore to himself and buried his hands in his hair.
Idiot, he chided himself. I’m an idiot.
The one thing in the world that was sacred to him was his relationship with Chloe…and he’d messed it up completely.
It had been inevitable, if he were going to be really honest with himself. He’d always been attracted to her, and aside from one or two incidences over the years, he’d been careful to never give in to what he’d felt for her because their friendship was too important to him, and ranked way beyond the intense physical attraction they shared.
It had been easier before she’d gotten into a relationship, but once Olsen had come into the picture, he’d found himself constantly thinking about Chloe as a flesh and blood woman - and hating Jimmy for having realised it and done something about it first.
He heard the shower come on, snapping him back to the present. Quickly he gathered his scattered belongings and left, shutting the door behind him.
***
As soon as she heard the outer door close, Chloe covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
A mistake. That’s all she was to him, a stupid regretful mistake. Almost a decade of friendship had been reduced to cold post-coital ashen embers in a single afternoon. It just wasn’t fair.
A small part of her had hoped that this new plain of intimacy would open his eyes to how wonderful they could truly be together if they took things to the next level. Instead, he’d thrown Jimmy in her face, along with a shitload of regret and shame; and as with each Clark rejection, she’d died a little more inside.
Chloe smiled wryly under the relentless water of the shower. She wondered if Clark would have reacted differently had he known the truth about her ‘marriage’ to Jimmy - that the decision to say yes to his proposal hadn’t been made by her, but by the alien entity that had been inside her head, hijacking her consciousness for months.
But she hadn’t wanted to burden Clark with that knowledge, because the guilt he was feeling for letting her get infected by Brainiac in the first place was more than enough to keep him worried. And then there was poor Jimmy, who thought he’d been marrying the woman he loved, only to get attacked and sliced to ribbons on his wedding day by a monster.
Then of course, there was her; carrying the burden of being stuck in a forced marriage, and lying to everyone that she was happy and fine.
She shook her head sadly. She was neither, not even close. But at least she didn’t have to pretend to Jimmy anymore. And for a moment there with Clark, everything had been beautiful, the way she’d always wanted it to be.
But only for a moment. And it looked like that one fleeting moment was all she was ever destined to get with him.
She sighed and reached out to shut off the water. She’d shed more than enough tears over Clark. Maybe giving him some breathing space and investing in new friendships was the best way forward. Though she suspected it wouldn’t be easy for anyone to be able to fill Clark’s super-sized shoes.
***
Chapter 5…
To quote Lemur!Clark, "Chegitout, chegitout...!" :-P
Enjoy. Awesome banner by ellashy . You rock, hun. :-D
Title: The Fallen Sky
Author: BabyDee
Pairing: Chlark, Oneshot
Rating: R-ish
Warnings: Major angst up ahead. Brace yourselves.
Timeline: Season 8 (Hex - Doomsday) Season 9 (My version)
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Months after walking away from her in Doomsday, Clark returns to Chloe…but finds that she’s a changed woman from the one he left behind.
Feedback: …always welcome. J
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 4
Freezes It Solid
Jimmy.
Jimmy Olsen. Chloe’s husband.
Clark squeezed his eyes shut as cold, harsh reality descended upon him.
He’d slept with Chloe. No, that wasn’t entirely true, as sleep hadn’t even come into the picture at all. He’d made love to her, done all sorts of intimate things with her.
And in all the spontaneity of the morning, he’d completely forgotten that Chloe was still married.
“What?” she whispered, her eyes wide with shock. Clark narrowed his gaze as her voice jerked him back to the present.
“Your husband is coming up the stairs, Chloe,” he said roughly.
Chloe flinched, but her eyes hardened and she spoke evenly. “Jimmy and I are separated, our marriage was never consummated, and annulment papers have been filed,” she said flatly. “He’s hardly my husband, Clark.”
“Well, until those papers are signed by both of you, your marriage remains valid, and that makes you still his wife,” he said, running his hands through his hair in anguish. “God, how could I have been so stupid?”
Chloe paled. “What did you say?” she whispered incredulously.
“I said I was stupid, Chloe. I just slept with another man’s wife,” he said glumly. “I’m an adulterer.”
“Technically, I’m the married one out of the both of us, so I’m the adulterer here,” she said stiffly. “You’re just a fornicator, Clark. It’s only half as bad.”
He scowled. “This isn’t funny, Chloe.”
“You think I think this is funny?” she yelled, flinging off the sheets and striding towards him. “Do you see me laughing here? If there’s a smile on my face, please do point it out to me, because I am definitely not finding any of this the least bit amusing!”
They stared at each other, naked and angry, and despite his earlier misgivings, Clark felt himself responding to her, Jimmy completely forgotten. As if by mutual consent she gravitated towards him, but before they made contact, then they heard the scrape of a key in the lock.
“Don’t let him in here,” she pleaded, backing away as the key slowly turned.
Quickly Clark zipped to the door and pressed his back against it just as Jimmy turned the handle and pushed. Naturally, the door didn’t budge, no matter how hard Jimmy pushed or how fiercely he rattled the handle.
“Chloe!” he shouted. “Open this door, I know you’re in there!”
“I don’t want to see you, Jimmy!” she replied as she hastily dragged a sheet around herself.
“Who are you talking to?” he yelled, banging on the door. “I heard you talking to someone Chloe! Who’s in there with you?”
“Go AWAY!” she cried. “I’m not letting you in here if all you’re gonna do is yell at me!”
He laughed harshly. “Oh, let me guess: you’ve got Davis in there, and you’re wondering where to stash him while you stall me, is that it?” he growled. “God, you are such a slut.”
Clark’s jaw hardened and he clenched his fist in rage, wishing he could punch through the door and smash the little man’s teeth in. He looked over at Chloe, her face reddening at Jimmy’s stinging remarks.
“Just leave me alone, Jimmy!” she said wearily. “I’m not the one who walked away from this marriage!”
“No, but for all the effort you put into it, you may as well have,” he retorted. “Spending all your time with your precious Clark while I was recuperating from an attack I saved you from!”
“I didn’t ask for that monster to ruin our lives!” she cried. “Stop blaming me for something that wasn’t my fault!”
“Oh, I’m not blaming you, Chloe - I blame myself,” he said bitterly. “I curse the day I met you.”
And with those words he turned and stomped down the stairs and out of the building. As soon as they heard his car start up and zoom off down the road, they both sagged in relief.
“He’s gone,” Clark said, stepping away from the door and holding Chloe’s arms. “It’s okay, Chloe, I won’t let him hurt you.”
She nodded slightly, her gaze meeting his before running over him intensely. He glanced down at himself and suddenly realised that he was still stark naked and she was clad in nothing but a loose sheet.
Quickly he let go of her arms and headed to the other side of the room, where his clothes lay scattered on the ground. Angrily he began to yank them on, trying to ignore the soft sound of Chloe’s approaching footsteps.
“Clark?” she began hesitantly.
“This was a mistake,” he said forcefully, yanking on his shoelaces so hard they almost snapped between his fingers. “I never should have touched you.”
The footsteps behind him stopped. He waited for an answer, but she remained silent behind him, making him feel all the more awful. He hated being the one to hurt her, but if he didn’t put a stop to it now, there was every chance that they’d make the same mistake again. And after the way he’d gone after Lana when she was married, the last thing he wanted to do was start something with an unavailable woman - even if she happened to be his best friend in the whole world.
“We just…we had a weird moment, and the situation got out of hand,” he continued, turning to face her with quiet determination. “I apologise for taking advantage of you, Chloe. It’ll never happen again.”
“Hey, don’t torture yourself, Clark,” she said scathingly. “You hardly took advantage of me, I was a willing participant. But you’re right - what’s done is done and best not repeated, so let’s just turn the page on this and forget it ever happened, okay?”
Clark closed his eyes slowly. “I think it’s for the best,” he said quietly. “The circumstances are less than ideal, and-”
“Hey, I’m over it already,” she said bluntly. “Are we done here?”
“Chloe, I…” he sighed. “Are you sure you’re okay with…with everything…?”
She rolled her eyes contemptuously. “We had sex, Clark, it’s hardly the end of the world.”
Oh, that stung. He barely managed to refrain from flinching at her terse summation of the morning’s activities.
“What if Jimmy comes back?” he asked.
“Not your problem,” she replied stiffly. “And I’d like to take a shower now, so if you don’t mind excusing me, I’d like a little privacy.”
She shrugged the sheet off, and it floated to the ground in a soft pile, leaving her naked before him. Clark gulped and forced his gaze upward even as his body betrayed him, tightening painfully at the sight of her. She stared right back at him, the picture of bravado even though he could see the pain behind her eyes.
He took a deep breath and picked up his jacket. “I’ll, er…I’ll leave you to it, then.”
She simply shrugged and headed for the bathroom. “Lock the door on your way out, would you?” she called over her shoulder before disappearing behind the bathroom door and turning the latch.
Clark swore to himself and buried his hands in his hair.
Idiot, he chided himself. I’m an idiot.
The one thing in the world that was sacred to him was his relationship with Chloe…and he’d messed it up completely.
It had been inevitable, if he were going to be really honest with himself. He’d always been attracted to her, and aside from one or two incidences over the years, he’d been careful to never give in to what he’d felt for her because their friendship was too important to him, and ranked way beyond the intense physical attraction they shared.
It had been easier before she’d gotten into a relationship, but once Olsen had come into the picture, he’d found himself constantly thinking about Chloe as a flesh and blood woman - and hating Jimmy for having realised it and done something about it first.
He heard the shower come on, snapping him back to the present. Quickly he gathered his scattered belongings and left, shutting the door behind him.
***
As soon as she heard the outer door close, Chloe covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
A mistake. That’s all she was to him, a stupid regretful mistake. Almost a decade of friendship had been reduced to cold post-coital ashen embers in a single afternoon. It just wasn’t fair.
A small part of her had hoped that this new plain of intimacy would open his eyes to how wonderful they could truly be together if they took things to the next level. Instead, he’d thrown Jimmy in her face, along with a shitload of regret and shame; and as with each Clark rejection, she’d died a little more inside.
Chloe smiled wryly under the relentless water of the shower. She wondered if Clark would have reacted differently had he known the truth about her ‘marriage’ to Jimmy - that the decision to say yes to his proposal hadn’t been made by her, but by the alien entity that had been inside her head, hijacking her consciousness for months.
But she hadn’t wanted to burden Clark with that knowledge, because the guilt he was feeling for letting her get infected by Brainiac in the first place was more than enough to keep him worried. And then there was poor Jimmy, who thought he’d been marrying the woman he loved, only to get attacked and sliced to ribbons on his wedding day by a monster.
Then of course, there was her; carrying the burden of being stuck in a forced marriage, and lying to everyone that she was happy and fine.
She shook her head sadly. She was neither, not even close. But at least she didn’t have to pretend to Jimmy anymore. And for a moment there with Clark, everything had been beautiful, the way she’d always wanted it to be.
But only for a moment. And it looked like that one fleeting moment was all she was ever destined to get with him.
She sighed and reached out to shut off the water. She’d shed more than enough tears over Clark. Maybe giving him some breathing space and investing in new friendships was the best way forward. Though she suspected it wouldn’t be easy for anyone to be able to fill Clark’s super-sized shoes.
***
Chapter 5…